


The Stars At Night

by Shinatobe



Category: Trigun
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Motorcycles, Pining, Wolfwood's too gay to function
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8274019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinatobe/pseuds/Shinatobe
Summary: Some liked to call Gunsmoke's sunsets beautiful, warm light tinting everything an amber color and shadows dragging long on the sand and stone. There was surely something mysterious in the absolute silence that came with the empty deserts, only interrupted by the smooth growl of Wolfwood's motorcycle as he sped across the plains with a blond fool asleep in the sidecar next to him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "but chelz, you can't put fluff in the vashwood tag" Watch Me

Some liked to call Gunsmoke's sunsets beautiful, warm light tinting everything an amber color and shadows dragging long on the sand and stone. There was surely something mysterious in the absolute silence that came with the empty deserts, only interrupted by the smooth growl of Wolfwood's motorcycle as he sped across the plains with a blond fool asleep in the sidecar next to him. Vash had been dozing for nearly a half hour now, idiot. Always claimed the vibrations made him drowsy, though Wolfwood didn't quite believe him. Either way the guy was out cold, which meant the driver had nothing to pass the time but the seemingly endless desert and his own thoughts.

What were those thoughts? Well, they meandered from the knot of hunger in his stomach to his utter hatred for the heat of the planet, then onto what the next town's hotels may be like. Hopefully working showers were in his future, as the combination of constant sweating and dirt blowing directly into his face left him feeling more desert than man. Vash never had that trouble, for some reason. God, Wolfwood swore the guy didn't even truly sweat. One glance over his shoulder told him as much; Vash still as strangely pale as ever with the exception of the flush on his cheeks and ears from the heat.

Wolfwood hated the way that image stayed over his eyes far too long, unnecessary details making sure to worm their way into the vision. Vash's bright eyes fringed with unnaturally dark lashes. His stupid grin punctuated with a beauty mark just below his eye, just like some old celebrity from a forgotten age. His laugh, the most obnoxious thing about him, ranging from a giggle to a guffaw at the drop of a hat. The damn laugh rang in Wolfwood's ears all too sweetly, causing him to grit his teeth and try to focus on  _anything_ but that voice that sounded so vivid in his mind he could've sworn Vash was calling for him at that very moment.

...

The priest looked over his shoulder again and nearly choked as he saw only a very empty space of desert where the sidecar used to be. Fuck, he'd known the bolts were loose but he didn't think...fuck. The motorcycle kicked up dust as he did a u-turn, squinting into the dust kicked up from before as he tried to discern the bright red of Vash's clothes. Ah, there he was, waving one arm and hooting and hollering, the other side of him preoccupied with dragging the remains of the sidecar along. Always so goddamn helpful, wasn't he.

"Jeez Wolfwood! You didn't even blink when the whole car came off, where's your head??" A man of Vash's stature of course had the ability to be intimidating. Wolfwood had seen it many times before. But Vash's pout was the very opposite of that, dirt smudging that pretty face and brow furrowed more annoyed that angry. The furrow grew of course, when his huffs were waved off by the priest's hand nonchalant as he looked over the sidecar.

"For all the noise you make you sure make it easy to forget about you, spikey-head. Sorry I ain't got two sets of eyes for when I'm driving." He snorted as Vash crossed his arms, completely unfazed by his attempts at seeming stern. "Guess a big guy like you's just too heavy for this thing. You ripped it right off the bolts, y'know."

He could hear Vash inhaling to argue, but the issue was as plain as day. Neither of them had the supplies to repair something like this, and the nearest town wasn't even visible in the hazy distance. Wolfwood rubbed his chin, making a mental note to himself to shave before the prickles against his fingers grew too wild.

"...I could ride onto town, and get a mechanic and come back for you."

"You'd leave me? In the desert?? At night??? In the cold???? Hell no!"

"Okay...I could unwrap the Punisher and tie the sidecar onto my bike with that. It might last till we find a town."

"Wolfwood, the sun is getting to you. I'm not expert on motorcycles but I can think of a couple ways for that to go really wrong really fast." Vash sighed, giving a good kick to the pile of scrap once called a sidecar. "I'll just ride behind you, it's no big deal. I'm sure there's room."

It certainly wasn't the matter of the bike having enough room that had Wolfwood's teeth on edge as he stared between the bike and Vash. It could absolutely fit two people, given two circumstances. One being that the second person held on good and tight, two being that they sat very, very close. The whole reason he'd gotten a sidecar from some sleazy vendor in the first place was to put distance between him and Vash in the most literal sense. But...no other options came to mind, despite his very best efforts. He huffed out a puff of smoke from his cigarette and ran a hand through his hair, wondering what he'd done to deserve this. Sure, he'd made many mistakes, but there was a limit to how much karmic retribution he could handle in one day.

"Fine. Hop on." He paused for a moment, giving Vash's outfit a once-over. "Don't scratch anything, dammit..."

He'd blame the sweat trickling down his neck on the lasting heat of a day in the sun, but he was still tense as he felt the man behind him shift into a comfortable position. Long legs even bent at the knee stuck out way too far, invading Wolfwood's periphery. Leather chafed against the cheap cotton of his suit, reminding him just how broad Vash was at the shoulders as he practically felt a shadow over him for a moment. But it was the gloved hands finding grip on his waist that finally set him off, cigarette snapping in half between his teeth as he fought a blush as deep a red as Vash's coat.

"What the  _fuck_ do you think you're doing, spikey-head?"

Vash poked his head over Wolfwood's shoulder so innocently, eyebrows raised. "I'm holding onto you, I don't wanna go flying again like with the sidecar."

"Either grab my  _shoulders_ or get used to the taste of dirt, got it???" God he swore he was red from the chest up, terribly glad for the deep orange of the sunset making it harder and harder to see. Vash was too warm as it was, but those arms around his waist felt like fire for an instant. What he wouldn't give to have a cold shower right then.

The angel on his shoulder just pouted, re-positioning his hands to Wolfwood's rude request and giving him a short squeeze. "Dunno what you're getting so prickly about now, we've had to stick closer than this before during fights." The priest didn't have an answer, so he grumbled incoherently and fought to make his blush die down as the motorcycle revved, taking off into the desert once more.

\---

It was almost too graciously that Wolfwood sat in the dirt and sand with a sigh, every nerve on his back and shoulders still tingling with the very fact that Vash the Stampede sat so close. They'd come to a stop for the evening as the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, still no town in sight to save them from the quickly cooling air. It was luck that found them what was probably a tree once, now just a gnarled grey wooden thing that took to Wolfwood's lighter quite easily and gave them something to ward off the chilly desert night. The canteen of water they shared was full but made them both grimace at the metallic taste. The only food was some weathered old jerky that Wolfwood didn't remember buying but gnawed on anyway, spurred on by hunger. Vash politely turned it down, swearing he wasn't hungry.

He was far too preoccupied with staring into the fire with those big eyes Wolfwood hated so much. Looking almost somber, like he remembered something tragic. Not unlikely, knowing how Vash was and how his heart always ached.

"Hey, what's with the face? Something bothering you already?" His voice was as sarcastic as ever but...his eyes leveled on Vash quite seriously as he exhaled another plume of smoke.

Vash perked slightly at the question but shook his head, lying straight to his face and straight through his teeth for both of them to enjoy. "No no, I just...it's pretty cold out here, even with the fire. That's all."

It would be easy to call his bluff. The guy was often an enigma, but he was just as often an open book, and Wolfwood didn't even have to read it to know the truth. But as he took a drag of bitter nicotine his shoulders slumped. He was tired, that was all.

"...Well get over here then. Two bodies are warmer than one." He swept away a few rocks from the spot next to him, nodding at it pointedly till Vash's face broke into that real smile of his and he joined him. 

"Here I thought you didn't want me touching you."

"Tch...this is different. Just keeping warm."

And god was he warm. Even just there next to Wolfwood, radiating a warmth that pressed inside of you and filled you up too easily. A terrible, wonderful feeling, basking in his glow and feeling that smile that was for only him. Thank the lord for the firelight masking how quickly his cheeks flared red again.

Vash nudged him with an elbow, drawing him out of his reverie. "Thanks, Wolfwood." Two simple words said so tenderly as the unbelievably tall man pulled his knees to his chest as a child would and lifted his gaze to the sky above, stars and galaxies all too prominent out here in the miles and miles of dark sky.

"Hey, Wolfwood."

"Hm?"

"What do you think the stars are?"

The long pause Wolfwood gave him made him laugh bashfully, bringing his eyes back down. "I mean...I know what they  _are_ are, but like...the woman who raised me liked to say the stars are passed loved ones, watching over us and protecting us." It seemed like he blushed mentioning it, giving Wolfwood an embarrassed look. "I guess that's kinda silly. Nobody ever told you something like that, right?"

Why did Vash have to be like this. Pulling all of Wolfwood's heartstrings at once in those hands of his and threatening to break them with his smile. Wolfwood was just a man, he shouldn't have to deal with the feelings this guy brought out of him, making him want to grab him by his dumb face and kiss him sillier than ever. He shouldn't have to love Vash the Stampede as much as he did, so much it hurt every day to look at him.

It was a long pause before he answered, so long Vash was surprised to hear him speak.

"...A long time ago, I was told it was angels piercing the sky with their sewing needles. Trying to embroider I guess, but they're all pretty clumsy at it." The dark sky was so vast, and Wolfwood remembered the constellations that used to mean something, long ago. Twins, scales, virgins, and lions. So many stories nearly forgotten.

The look Vash gave him was embarrassingly encouraging, a smile accompanied with a soft chuckle as he fell back in the dirt, hands pillowed behind his head as he gave the sky his full attention. "Clumsy angels, huh. I like it." Of course Wolfwood waited only a half beat to lay out next to him, hands clasped over his chest like a corpse as he clutched his cigarette between his teeth. His own smoke mingled with the fire's, curling into the dark sky just enough to make a few stars waver, as if alive.

The star at his side turned to face him, propped up on one elbow and eyes intent. Wolfwood swore there were more stars in those eyes than in the whole damn sky, but maybe it was fatigue getting to him, making his hands clammy as Vash's gaze never wavered.

"...Take a picture, it'll last longer."

He snorted and smiled wide, and Wolfwood's heart was still racing. "Sorry, uh, just seeing if you were asleep yet."

"Tch...well I'm about to be. And you should be too." He shut his eyes if only to block Vash from his sight, mumbling a "g'night" as he stubbed the cigarette into the dirt beside him. That would be that, and he could push those troubling thoughts aside for a dreamless sleep, right?

The feather-light touch he felt on his lips said otherwise, brushing against him with the slightest warmth before disappearing altogether. He would not, could not open his eyes to see what happened, because he already knew. So he bid the idea of a calm night's sleep goodbye, fighting the urge to cross himself before letting himself submit to the sensation that was absolutely one man's lips on another's. Hopefully his dreams would be kind.

\---

Morning came quick, the light of dawn rousing them both from slumber. Wolfwood swore he still felt red in the face, but if he was, Vash didn't mention it. Better that they headed out quickly, before the heat of the sun began to bear down on them both. One stamped out the fire while the other secured their bags, taking special care with the heavy cross. Climbing onto the bike was easier than it had been the first time, Vash's hands resting atop Wolfwood's shoulders gently as he leaned back in his small seat.

Wolfwood stared into the distance, a fresh cigarette already between his lips and half ashen as he heaved out a smoky sigh and swore under his breath. But before Vash could even raise an eyebrow his hands were tugged down, hooked around the driver's waist quite snugly.

Said driver's ears were pink, quite visible in the pale morning light.

He didn't see the smile, but he felt a cheek rest between his shoulder-blades, arms giving his middle a gentle squeeze of encouragement. The motorcycle roared to life beneath them and took off once more, kicking up clouds of dust that mixed into the hazy morning all too easy.

**Author's Note:**

> THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP* DEEP IN THE HEEEAAART OF GUNSMOKE


End file.
